‘Disgust and fury’ towards Zionism
AMAN adviser says Zionism could be spoken about with ‘disgust and fury’ under a proposed framework.
A framework the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (AMAN) wants Australian institutions to adopt would permit Zionists to be dehumanised, the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion heard last Thursday.
AMAN legal adviser Rita Jabri Markwell, a principal drafter, agreed the framework prohibits dehumanisation on the basis of protected characteristics while expressly permitting it for political ideologies and their adherents. She told counsel assisting Richard Lancaster SC that Zionism was a form of ethno-nationalism.
Cross-examined by Nicholas Bender SC for seven peak Jewish communal bodies, Markwell agreed she regards Zionism as a form of violent extremism.
Bender took her to an article by Mia Klein, a lived experience witness in the commission’s first hearing block, describing being evicted from her sharehouse for being a Zionist. Klein wrote that she supported a two-state solution and was a harsh critic of Benjamin Netanyahu and the IDF.
Asked whether such a person could be dehumanised within Australian institutions under her framework, Markwell said: “Zionism could be spoken about with disgust and fury. Yes, under that framework, it could be.”
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